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Bostonians crowd JFK for last goodbyes

BOSTON — During the two days the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy was open to the general public, nearly 60,000 people passed through.

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Some visitors drove for hours or waited in lines that stretched to three-quarters of a mile — all to touch the deck of a ship that will be decommissioned in a matter of weeks.

In scenes reminiscent of rock concerts or rollouts of the latest video game console, some even arrived at 4 a.m. to wait for general visiting hours to open at 8 a.m.

“It was worth the wait, every minute of it,” said John McDowell of Hingham, Mass.

McDowell had set out in the morning with his son Chris and neighbor, James Ippolito. But as they left their neighborhood in the Boston suburbs, the radio announcer told them not to bother trying to reach the ship: The line was already too long and was being cut off.

“We decided to drive in anyway, just to see if we could catch a glimpse of her,” he said. “I’m glad we did, because once we got down here, we found out the lines had been reopened.”

Navy officials confirmed that the turnout was so heavy early Saturday that they were worried security would back up the line even more.

But soon, security crews, culled from the ship’s watch sections, became more proficient at operating the metal detectors, X-ray gear and hand wands. Lines started to move more quickly, making officials confident they could handle more visitors.

By Saturday night, nearly 21,000 people had crossed the Kennedy’s brow. That would go up to 35,000 on Sunday as security crews managed to smooth out the kinks.

The wait did not deter young Chris McDowell, who was still excited after leaving the ship.

“You just can’t realize how big that flight deck is until you stand on it,” he said. “That was my favorite part, along with seeing the F/A-18 Hornet. They’re real cool airplanes.”

His buddy, James, loved the whole experience. “I really learned a lot about the Navy, a lot more than I knew,” he said, brandishing the Navy recruiting posters and other materials they’d been given onboard. “It was well worth the two-hour wait — in fact, I would have waited longer.”

On Sunday evening, the ship opened up to former crew members and plank owners for more private tours, away from the masses.

Among those visiting the ship was retired Capt. Joe Gildea, who took over the chief engineer’s job shortly after commissioning and ran the engineering department through the ship’s first cruise.

“I had to come back, there was no doubt,” Gildea said. He came up from Virginia specifically for this event.

“I can’t describe it — just seeing an engineering space on here after all these years made the whole trip worthwhile.”

A number of the ship’s first crew were also aboard Saturday night. These plank owners, some brandishing memorabilia, chatted on the hangar deck.

Former Machinist’s Mate 2nd Class Tom Foley made a beeline to his former work space in the forward area of the hanger deck.

“That was my shop,” Foley said, pointing to twin watertight doors on the port side of the hanger bay. “We manufactured the oxygen and nitrogen the maintainers used in the aircraft.”

Foley was chatting with another plank owner, former Personnelman 3rd Class Thomas J. Korzen.

“This is not only the last hurrah for the ship, it’s also the last hurrah for us as crew members and plank owners,” he said. “I simply had to be here.”